


The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

by Yubbzy



Category: Glee
Genre: Comedy, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 06:05:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18114812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yubbzy/pseuds/Yubbzy
Summary: Beth has a class project; Rachel insists that she must help. But how difficult can a family tree be, really?





	The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [teadalek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teadalek/gifts).



> It's been a long time since I tried to write anything, and with the Faberry Renaissance coming, I wanted to finally finish this. Thank you to the wonderful Fanfic Bard that is Teadalek for giving me this idea, and then actually making me do it (however it is that happened).
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys some fluff!

"Is this really necessary?" The girl's head lolled to the side as she took in the image before her. Her eyebrows raised slightly from amusement at comparing the size of the whiteboard to that of the woman who stood beside it. 

 

Pulling open one of the markers, Rachel Berry wistfully shook her head at the blonde on the couch. "You have no idea the size of the task we are up against,"  the tone in her voice verged so close to patronizing, that Beth felt mere seconds away from being patted on the head. "Honestly, I was considering buying a larger sized board, but I wasn't sure if it would have fit through the front door."

 

Rachel spun towards the board with swiftness, astutely ignoring any rolling eyes in the room, and wrote one simple name at the center of the bottom of the slab - 'Beth.'

 

"I figured it would be easier if we started with you."

 

At first, the school project seemed perfectly simple. Mrs. Porter, the school's biology teacher, wanted a family tree - something made by hand and with a personal touch. Beth figured she could just get her info from one of those ancestry sites and whip something up between soccer and AV club (she had so many extra curricular activities, she'd become a pro at last-minute schoolwork). However, when she had told her big sister about her plans, Rachel insisted that she came over so the two of them could work on it together. She believed it would be a touching bonding experience, and they would come out of it stronger for having been there for each other.

 

Beth should have realized then just how terrible this could go.

 

Instead, she agreed to head over for the weekend. She thought they could transition from the project into a fun sleepover, where they would watch old musicals and eat the vegan equivalent of junk food. It had been a while since they had much quality time, what with their very different yet equally busy schedules.

 

She gave out a small sigh and settled further into the plush couch. However this was going to turn out, she hoped there would still be time for  _ Grease _ and dairy-free ice cream.

 

Rachel stared at the board for a moment, twisting the marker between her fingers before she froze altogether. "Or, wait...maybe we should," her sentence dwindled to nothing as she tried to wade through the thick, murky swamp of details they needed to unravel. They had barely started, and Rachel was already unsure of where to go next.

 

"It can't be that difficult. Mom and Puck had me and I was given away to...mom, who is also your mom, which makes us sisters. See? Simple.”

 

Rachel began scribbling various names on the whiteboard - connecting 'Quinn' to 'Noah' and drawing the appropriate lines between Beth, Shelby, and herself. It was already a mess. Beth could sass all she wanted, but she had no idea what she was about to endure. Damn Mrs. Porter, she was only a child! She shouldn't have to bear the weight of this knowledge at such a young age.

 

With a tiny grumble, Rachel erased what little work they had accomplished. She needed a different angle - one that could give her all the room she needed to branch out - and a more flexible starting point. The new idea came quickly, and soon she had scrawled two names at the center of the board with a short connecting line: 'Rachel' and 'Quinn.'

 

Beth's face crinkled with a half-mocking smile, "Way to make this about you."

 

Rachel stuck her tongue out at the girl before straightening up and starting over, "Your mother and I are...your mothers. However, I am also your sister, because you were legally adopted by my birth mother, which makes her also your mother."

 

She began furiously writing, a web of lines and names sprawled out onto the board at increasingly awkward angles. Yes, this started out as what Rachel hoped to be a bonding moment between her and her sister daughter; but, as the details started to seep into her mind, she soon realized that even she might not have everything sorted out.

 

“Hang on…” Beth was starting to think she was far too cocky about this whole endeavor. Such is the plight of living life as a Berry-Fabray...Corcoran...Puckerman. “It’s saying that Shelby is also my aunt?”

 

“Right, that’s exactly,” Rachel paused mid-nod and swiveled her head toward Beth. They stared at each other in devastating silence for a beat. An understanding was passed between them, but they were still so unsure what it meant.

 

So startlingly unsure.

 

Rachel erased the whiteboard.

 

* * *

 

It had been hours. For Rachel, it felt like days. For Beth? An eternity.

 

“Is that everything?” Her voice felt foreign. Ragged, animalistic. There was a plea hidden in her words.

 

Rachel looked behind Beth at the kitchen island where two men were sat, a totally emptied bottle of wine between them. Hiram’s lips parted, trying to piece together the last few hours. His right hand seemed to stick permanently to his face, his pinky grazing the corner of his mouth. Meanwhile, LeRoy bounced one of his knees against his chair - it was an anxious move he saved only for when something had left him completely flummoxed.

 

“So…,” Hiram trailed off, lost in thought as he gazed into his empty wine glass, “if Rachel married her sister’s daughter...is Quinn her mother?”

 

“No, no,” LeRoy hurried out with a weak laugh. Truthfully, he was a little unsure, himself. “Of course not! Or...no?”

 

He swallowed thickly, looking to Rachel for guidance. There had to be a better answer, some reasoning behind all of this. There needed to be an explanation. But Rachel only stood, staring unseeingly at the wall past her fathers and Beth, wide-eyed and mouth agape in mild terror - dark, dreaded realization.

 

* * *

 

Students meandered into the classroom, chatting as they went to their preferred tables. Estelle, a friend of Beth’s since homeroom of Freshman year, slid herself into the seat beside the one Beth had already been in. Something was off about her, but she couldn’t quite tell what.

 

Estelle attempted to clear her friend from what seemed like a thick cloud of thought, "I took my family tree all the way to before my ancestors came to Ellis Island! I didn't even have to do one of those programs or anything; my family kept track of their own records.” The girl gave a small, self-conscious laugh when Beth showed no response, “I know, it’s pretty silly. What about you, Beth? How far did you go?" 

 

Beth slowly turned to face her,  an obscure blend of stoic anguish painted itself upon her face.

 

"My grandmother."


End file.
